US20140163744A1 - Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits - Google Patents

Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits Download PDF

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US20140163744A1
US20140163744A1 US14/093,808 US201314093808A US2014163744A1 US 20140163744 A1 US20140163744 A1 US 20140163744A1 US 201314093808 A US201314093808 A US 201314093808A US 2014163744 A1 US2014163744 A1 US 2014163744A1
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Prior art keywords
operating parameters
controller
cooling
cooling circuit
fault
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US14/093,808
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English (en)
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Benedict J. Dolcich
Gary A. Helmink
Matthew RAVEN
Martin Hrncar
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Vertiv Corp
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Liebert Corp
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Priority to US14/093,808 priority Critical patent/US20140163744A1/en
Priority to PCT/US2013/073009 priority patent/WO2014089154A1/en
Priority to EP13811701.5A priority patent/EP2932814A1/en
Priority to CN201380064127.3A priority patent/CN104885585A/zh
Assigned to LIEBERT CORPORATION reassignment LIEBERT CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: HELMINK, GARY A., HRNCAR, MARTIN, RAVEN, Matthew, DOLCICH, BENEDICT J.
Publication of US20140163744A1 publication Critical patent/US20140163744A1/en
Assigned to JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT reassignment JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Assignors: ALBER CORP., ASCO POWER TECHNOLOGIES, L.P., AVOCENT CORPORATION, AVOCENT FREMONT, LLC, AVOCENT HUNTSVILLE, LLC, AVOCENT REDMOND CORP., ELECTRICAL RELIABILITY SERVICES, INC., EMERSON NETWORK POWER, ENERGY SYSTEMS, NORTH AMERICA, INC., LIEBERT CORPORATION, LIEBERT NORTH AMERICA, INC., NORTHERN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Assigned to JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT reassignment JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Assignors: ALBER CORP., ASCO POWER TECHNOLOGIES, L.P., AVOCENT CORPORATION, AVOCENT FREMONT, LLC, AVOCENT HUNTSVILLE, LLC, AVOCENT REDMOND CORP., ELECTRICAL RELIABILITY SERVICES, INC., EMERSON NETWORK POWER, ENERGY SYSTEMS, NORTH AMERICA, INC., LIEBERT CORPORATION, LIEBERT NORTH AMERICA, INC., NORTHERN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Assigned to VERTIV CORPORATION (F/K/A EMERSON NETWORK POWER, ENERGY SYSTEMS, NORTH AMERICA, INC.), VERTIV CORPORATION (F/K/A LIEBERT CORPORATION), VERTIV IT SYSTEMS, INC. (F/K/A AVOCENT CORPORATION), VERTIV IT SYSTEMS, INC. (F/K/A AVOCENT FREMONT, LLC), VERTIV IT SYSTEMS, INC. (F/K/A AVOCENT HUNTSVILLE, LLC), VERTIV IT SYSTEMS, INC. (F/K/A AVOCENT REDMOND CORP.), ELECTRICAL RELIABILITY SERVICES, INC., VERTIV CORPORATION (F/K/A ALBER CORP.) reassignment VERTIV CORPORATION (F/K/A EMERSON NETWORK POWER, ENERGY SYSTEMS, NORTH AMERICA, INC.) RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • F24F11/0009—
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F24F11/32—Responding to malfunctions or emergencies
    • F24F11/38—Failure diagnosis
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F24F11/49—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring ensuring correct operation, e.g. by trial operation or configuration checks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
    • H05K7/00—Constructional details common to different types of electric apparatus
    • H05K7/20—Modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating
    • H05K7/20709—Modifications to facilitate cooling, ventilating, or heating for server racks or cabinets; for data centers, e.g. 19-inch computer racks
    • H05K7/20836—Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F24F11/32—Responding to malfunctions or emergencies

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to detecting faults in a cooling circuit of a cooling system.
  • Cooling systems have applicability in a number of different applications where fluid is to be cooled. They are used in cooling gas, such as air, and liquids, such as water. Two common examples are building HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) systems that are used for “comfort cooling,” that is, to cool spaces where people are present such as offices, and data center climate control systems.
  • HVAC heating, ventilation, air conditioning
  • a data center is a room containing a collection of electronic equipment, such as computer servers.
  • Data centers and the equipment contained therein typically have optimal environmental operating conditions, temperature and humidity in particular.
  • Cooling systems used for data centers typically include climate control systems, usually implemented as part the control for the cooling system, to maintain the proper temperature and humidity in the data center.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example of a typical data center 100 having a climate control system 102 (also known as a cooling system).
  • Data center 100 illustratively utilizes the “hot” and “cold” aisle approach where equipment racks 104 are arranged to create hot aisles 106 and cold aisles 108 .
  • Data center 100 is also illustratively a raised floor data center having a raised floor 110 above a sub-floor 112 .
  • the space between raised floor 110 and sub-floor 112 provides a supply air plenum 114 for conditioned supply air (sometimes referred to as “cold” air) flowing from computer room air conditioners (“CRACs”) 116 of climate control system 102 up through raised floor 110 into data center 100 .
  • CRACs computer room air conditioners
  • the conditioned supply air then flows into the fronts of equipment racks 104 , through the equipment (not shown) mounted in the equipment racks where it cools the equipment, and the hot air is then exhausted out through the backs of equipment racks 104 , or the tops of racks 104 .
  • the conditioned supply air flows into bottoms of the racks and is exhausted out of the backs of the racks 104 or the tops of the racks 104 .
  • data center 100 may not have a raised floor 110 nor plenum 114 .
  • the CRAC's 116 would draw in through an air inlet (not shown) heated air from the data center, cool it, and exhaust it from an air outlet 117 shown in phantom in FIG. 1 back into the data center.
  • the CRACS 116 may, for example, be arranged in the rows of the electronic equipment, may be disposed with their cool air supply facing respective cold aisles, or be disposed along walls of the data center.
  • data center 100 has a dropped ceiling 118 where the space between dropped ceiling 118 and ceiling 120 provides a hot air plenum 122 into which the hot air exhausted from equipment racks 104 is drawn and through which the hot air flows back to CRACs 116 .
  • a return air plenum (not shown) for each CRAC 116 couples that CRAC 116 to plenum 122 .
  • CRACs 116 may be chilled water CRACs or direct expansion (DX) CRACs.
  • CRACs 116 are coupled to a heat rejection device 124 that provides cooled liquid to CRACs 116 .
  • Heat rejection device 124 is a device that transfers heat from the return fluid from CRACs 116 to a cooler medium, such as outside ambient air. Heat rejection device 124 may include air or liquid cooled heat exchangers. Heat rejection device 124 may also be a refrigeration condenser system, in which case a refrigerant is provided to CRACs 116 and CRACs 116 may be phase change refrigerant air conditioning systems having refrigerant compressors, such as a DX system.
  • Each CRAC 116 may include a controller 125 that controls the CRAC 116 . Controller 125 may illustratively be an iCOM® control system available from Liebert Corporation of Columbus, Ohio.
  • CRAC 116 includes a variable capacity compressor and may for example include a variable capacity compressor for each DX cooling circuit of CRAC 116 . It should be understood that CRAC 116 may, as is often the case, have multiple DX cooling circuits.
  • CRAC 116 includes a capacity modulated type of compressor or a 4-step semi-hermetic compressor, such as those available from Emerson Climate Technologies, Liebert Corporation or the Carlyle division of United Technologies.
  • CRAC 116 may also include one or more air moving units 119 , such as fans or blowers.
  • the air moving units 119 may be provided in CRACs 116 or may additionally or alternatively be provided in supply air plenum 114 as shown in phantom at 121 . Air moving units 119 , 121 may illustratively have variable speed drives.
  • FIG. 2 A typical CRAC 200 having a typical DX cooling circuit is shown in FIG. 2 .
  • CRAC 200 has a cabinet 202 in which an evaporator 204 is disposed.
  • Evaporator 204 may be a V-coil assembly.
  • An air moving unit 206 such as a fan or squirrel cage blower, is also disposed in cabinet 202 and situated to draw air through evaporator 204 from an inlet (not shown) of cabinet 202 , where it is cooled by evaporator 204 , and direct the cooled air out of plenum 208 .
  • Evaporator 204 , a compressor 210 , a condenser 212 and an expansion valve 214 are coupled together in known fashion in a DX refrigeration circuit.
  • a phase change refrigerant is circulated by compressor 210 through condenser 212 , expansion valve 214 , evaporator 204 and back to compressor 210 .
  • Condenser 212 may be any of a variety of types of condensers conventionally used in cooling systems, such as an air cooled condenser, a water cooled condenser, or glycol cooled condenser. It should be understood that condenser 210 is often not part of the CRAC but is located elsewhere, such as outside the building in which the CRAC is located.
  • Compressor 210 may be any of a variety of types of compressors conventionally used in DX refrigeration systems, such as a scroll compressor.
  • evaporator 204 When evaporator 204 is a V-coil or A-coil assembly, it typically has a cooling slab (or slabs) on each leg of the V or A, as applicable.
  • Each cooling slab may, for example, be in a separate cooling circuit with each cooling circuit having a separate compressor.
  • the fluid circuits in each slab such as where there are two slabs and two compressor circuits, can be intermingled among the two compressor circuits.
  • the cooling circuits may be other than DX cooling circuits. They may for example be pumped refrigerant cooling circuits, chilled water cooling circuits, or cooling circuits having both a DX mode and a pumped refrigerant mode.
  • Controller 125 will typically include fault detection to detect whether there has been a failure of the cooling system including the cooling circuit (or circuits) that the controller 125 is controlling. Such fault detection has typically been on an individual cooling circuit basis. That is, one or more operating parameters of an individual cooling circuit are monitored by controller 125 and if they deviate sufficiently from a setpoint, or are outside of a set range, the controller determines that a fault has occurred in the cooling circuit.
  • the setpoint or set range may for example, as the case may be, can be fixed, user input, or dynamically determined.
  • a cooling system in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure has a plurality of identical cooling circuits and a controller that controls the cooling circuits.
  • the controller includes fault detection to detect whether there has been a failure of any of the cooling circuits that it is controlling.
  • the fault detection includes the controller monitoring the operating parameters of each of the cooling circuits and comparing operating parameters of one cooling circuit to operating parameters of the other cooling circuit. If corresponding operating parameters of the cooling circuits differ from each other by an appreciable amount, the controller determines that a fault has occurred.
  • the controller determines possible causes of a fault that occurred based on the comparison of corresponding operating parameters of the cooling circuits and which differ from each other by an appreciable amount and which do not. In an aspect, the controller outputs a response based on the determined possible causes of the fault.
  • the controller uses a comparison of the operating parameters of a cooling circuit to a snapshot of the operating parameters of that cooling circuit taken after the cooling circuit is determined to be operating properly after start-up, which is referred to herein as the original snapshot.
  • the controller makes this comparison when the cooling circuit is operating at a similar condition to when the original snapshot was taken.
  • the controller calculates uses known operating parameters of a cooling circuit as inputs to a system model and uses the system model to calculate remaining operating parameters of the cooling circuit (collectively, the system model operating parameters) and uses a comparison of the system model operating parameters of the cooling circuit to monitored parameters of the cooling circuit.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating a prior art data center
  • FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective view of a prior art CRAC having a DX cooling circuit
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic showing a CRAC having two DX cooling circuits
  • FIG. 4 is a spreadsheet listing failure modes and the relationship of particular operating parameters of the cooling circuits on which of the failure modes is determined;
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic showing a cooling system having two cooling circuits with each cooling circuit include a DX mode and a pumped refrigerant economizer mode;
  • FIG. 6 is a basic flow chart of a software program for fault detection in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 7 is a basic flow chart of a software program for fault detection in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 8 is a basic flow chart of a software program for fault detection in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic of a cooling system 300 having a plurality of cooling circuits 302 , such as may be utilized for CRAC 200 with each cooling circuit 302 being the cooling circuit for one of the legs of the A or V coil assembly (as applicable).
  • Cooling circuits 302 are both DX refrigeration circuits that are identical to each other and include evaporator 204 , compressor 210 , condenser 212 and expansion valve 214 .
  • cooling circuits 302 being identical to each other means that their functional components (compressors, expansion valves, heat exchangers, evaporators, condensers, refrigerant charge quantity, piping, fans, etc.) that physically make up the refrigerant circuit and the conditions (indoor air temperature, outdoor air temperature, indoor air flow, outdoor air flow, etc.) are by design the same (equal) in form, fit, function, and performance and thus should perform essentially the same within measurement tolerances.
  • Cooling system 300 includes controller 320 that controls cooling circuits 302 . Controller 320 may include, or be coupled to, a user interface 321 .
  • Expansion valves 214 may preferably be electronic expansion valves, but may also be thermostatic expansion valves such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,198.
  • a refrigerant is circulated by the compressor and it flows from the compressor, through the condenser, expansion valve, evaporator and back to the compressor.
  • each compressor 210 may include tandem compressors with one compressor a fixed capacity compressor and the other compressor a variable capacity compressor, such as a digital scroll compressor.
  • Each compressor 210 may be a tandem digital scroll compressor that includes a fixed capacity scroll compressor and a digital scroll compressor.
  • cooling circuits 302 can be other than the cooling circuits for the respective legs of an A-coil assembly or V-coil assembly in a CRAC.
  • they could be cooling circuits of different CRACs, provided that they are identical and operate under the same conditions.
  • condensers 212 can be any of the heat rejection devices described above with regard to heat rejection device 124 of FIG. 1 .
  • Controller 320 includes fault detection to detect whether there has been a failure of any of the cooling circuits 302 that it is controlling.
  • the fault detection includes controller 320 monitoring the operating parameters of each of the cooling circuits 302 and comparing the operating parameters of one cooling circuit 302 to the operating parameters of the other cooling circuit 302 .
  • the operating parameters are the inputs and outputs of the cooling circuits, such as the sensor readings and control outputs to the controllable devices, such as the compressor, EEV, fans, and the like. They may include temperatures, pressures, fan speeds, EEV positions, compressor loading, and the like.
  • “T” in a circle indicates a temperature sensor and “P” in a circle indicates a pressure sensor.
  • the cooling circuits 302 are identical and are operating at similar if not identical conditions, the corresponding operating parameters of each of the cooling circuits 302 should not differ from each other by any appreciable amount.
  • Conditions in this context means the application conditions in which the cooling system is applied, as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.
  • the applications conditions are the indoor air flow, temperature and humidity of the indoor return air entering the cooling system, and temperature of outdoor air entering the outdoor condenser.
  • the last condition would instead be a temperature of fluid entering the condenser and fluid % glycol entering the condenser.
  • controller 320 determines that the corresponding operating parameters for the cooling circuits 302 differ from each other by an appreciable amount, controller 320 determines that a fault has occurred. Controller 320 determines possible causes of the fault and outputs a response based on this determination. The response may include an alarm, adjustment to the maintenance schedule for cooling system 300 , a message indicating the potential problem, or any combination of these. It should be understood that these are examples of responses and the responses can include other types of responses.
  • Controller 320 determines the possible causes of the fault based on the comparison of corresponding operating parameters of the cooling circuits 302 , and which differ from each other by an appreciable amount and which do not.
  • appreciable amount means a sufficient difference to indicate an alarm condition. It should be understood that different conditions could mean that there are different differences at which the alarm condition occurs.
  • the appreciable amount will be a measurement difference of temperature, pressure, or percent of speed or capacity.
  • the magnitude of the appreciable amount may be determined through experimentation, experience, sensor accuracy and/or percent of full scale reading. For example, they may be initially set broadly and then refined based on experiential data from systems in operation.
  • FIG. 4 is a spreadsheet showing an example of the foregoing fault detection listing various failure modes and the relationship of particular operating parameters on which each of the failure modes is determined.
  • “Suct Press” in FIG. 4 stands for compressor suction pressure.
  • a pressure difference is defined between the readings of the compressor suction pressures on the two systems at which to annunciate a warning and take action.
  • This difference could, by way of example and not of limitation, be 10 psi for R-407C refrigerant systems and may be 20 psi for R-410A refrigerant systems. These can be fixed values or user adjustable values.
  • the same approach is true for the other parameters listed in FIG. 4 .
  • the following table identifies the parameters listed in FIG. 4 , but it should be understood that other parameters may also be usable.
  • Suct Press Compressor suction pressure (measured pressure) Suct Temp Compressor suction temperature (measured temperature) SH Refrigerant Superheat (could be at compressor suction or discharge) (calculated temperature) EEV Pos Electronic Expansion Valve Position (% open) Liqd Pressure Refrigerant liquid pressure (measured pressure) Liqd Temp Refrigerant liquid temperature (measured temperature) SC Refrigerant Subcooling (calculated temperature) Disc Temp Compressor discharge temperature (measured temperature) Cond Fan Speed Outdoor condenser fan speed (RPM or %) (measured speed) Digital % Digital compressor % of capacity (% setting of digital compressor) Outdoor amb. Outdoor ambient temperature (measured temperature)
  • controller 320 may also use a comparison of the operating parameters of a cooling circuit 302 to a snapshot of the operating parameters of that cooling circuit taken after the cooling circuit is determined to be operating properly after start-up, which is referred to herein as the original snapshot. Controller 320 makes this comparison when the cooling circuit 302 is operating at a similar condition to when the original snapshot was taken.
  • the above described fault detection can be used with cooling systems having identical cooling circuits that are other than DX cooling circuits.
  • it can be used with cooling circuits that include both a DX mode and a pumped refrigerant economizer mode.
  • Cooling system 500 includes a plurality of DX cooling circuits 502 with each cooling circuit 502 having an evaporator 504 , expansion valve 506 (which may preferably be an electronic expansion valve but may also be a thermostatic expansion valve or fixed orifice), condenser 508 and compressor 510 arranged in a DX refrigeration circuit.
  • Each cooling circuit 502 also includes a fluid pump 512 , solenoid valve 514 and check valves 516 , 518 , 522 .
  • An outlet 562 of condenser 508 is coupled to an inlet 528 of pump 512 and to an inlet 530 of check valve 516 .
  • An outlet 532 of pump 512 is coupled to an inlet 534 of solenoid valve 514 .
  • An outlet 536 of solenoid valve 514 is coupled to an inlet 538 of electronic expansion valve 506 .
  • An outlet 540 of check valve 516 is also coupled to the inlet 538 of electronic expansion valve 506 .
  • An outlet 542 of electronic expansion valve 506 is coupled to a refrigerant inlet 544 of evaporator 504 .
  • a refrigerant outlet 546 of evaporator 504 is coupled to an inlet 548 of compressor 510 and to an inlet 550 of check valve 518 .
  • cooling circuit 502 can be any of the cooling circuits disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 13/446,310 having both a DX mode and a pumped refrigerant mode, provided that the cooling circuits 502 are identical to each other.
  • Cooling system 500 also includes a controller 520 coupled to controlled components of cooling system 500 , such as electronic expansion valve 506 , compressor 510 , pump 512 , solenoid valve 514 , condenser fan 524 , and evaporator air moving unit 526 .
  • Controller 520 may include, or be coupled to, a user interface 521 .
  • Controllers 320 , 520 may illustratively be an iCOM® control system available from Liebert Corporation of Columbus, Ohio programmed with software implementing the above described fault detection.
  • FIG. 6 is a basic flow chart of a software program for controllers 320 , 520 implementing the above described fault detection.
  • controller 320 monitors the operating parameters of cooling circuits 302 .
  • controller 320 compares corresponding operating parameters of the cooling circuits 302 . As discussed above, the monitored operating parameters of each of the cooling circuits that are used by controller 320 in making the comparison are obtained at essentially the same time as at any given time, the cooling circuits will be operating at identical conditions.
  • controller 320 determines whether a fault has occurred based on the comparison.
  • controller 320 determines the possible failure modes based on the relationship of certain corresponding operating parameters of the cooling circuits 302 and at 608 , outputs an appropriate response. If at 604 controller 320 determined that a fault had not occurred, controller 320 returns to 600 as it does after outputting the appropriate response at 608 .
  • controller 320 may use a comparison of the operating parameters of a cooling circuit 302 to a snapshot of the operating parameters of that cooling circuit taken after the cooling circuit is determined to be operating properly after start-up, which is referred to herein as the original snapshot. Controller 320 makes this comparison when the cooling circuit 302 is operating at a similar condition to when the original snapshot was taken. Similar in this context means that the application conditions are essentially the same, taking into account tolerances that may for example be heuristically determined. It should be understood that this aspect could be used in cooling systems having a single cooling circuit as well as a plurality of cooling circuits.
  • FIG. 7 is a basic flow chart of a software program for controller 320 implementing the above described fault detection in which a comparison to the original snapshot is used.
  • controller 320 takes the original snapshot of each of cooling circuits 302 .
  • controller 320 monitors the operating parameters of cooling circuits 302 .
  • controller 320 checks whether a cooling circuit 302 is operating at a similar condition as it was operating when the original snapshot was taken. If so, at 706 controller 320 compares the current operating parameters of the applicable cooling circuit 302 to the original snapshot of the operating parameters of that cooling circuit 302 and then proceeds to 708 .
  • controller 320 determines whether a fault has occurred based on the comparison.
  • controller 320 determines that a fault has occurred if current operating parameters differ from the operating parameters in the original snapshot by an appreciable amount.
  • controller 320 determines possible causes of the fault. It does so in a similar fashion as described above with reference to FIG. 4 with the comparison being between the monitored operating parameters and original snapshot.
  • controller 320 outputs a response based on this determination and then returns to 702 . If at 704 no cooling circuit 302 was found to be operating at a similar condition as it was operating when the original snapshot was taken, or if at 708 controller 320 determined a fault had not occurred, controller 320 returns to 702 .
  • controller 320 may use known operating parameters of the cooling circuit and calculate the remaining operating parameters, which are collectively referred to herein as the system model operating parameters.
  • the known operating parameters can for example include control outputs that controller 320 determines and outputs and monitored inputs, such as sensor readings.
  • the calculated operating parameters reflect what the operating parameters of the control circuit should be if the control circuit is operating properly.
  • the controller compares the monitored operating parameters of a cooling circuit 302 to the system model operating parameters. It should be understood that the monitored operating parameters can include control outputs as well as inputs such as sensor readings.
  • a system model is a mathematical model of a system typically implemented in software that mathematically calculates the system operating parameters.
  • the system model is a system specific model based on the combination of components that make up the specific cooling circuit. For example, using return air temperature, evaporator fan speed, compressor loading percentage and outdoor ambient temperature, the system model can calculate the capacity of the cooling circuit, temperatures and pressures at various points in the cooling circuit, power consumption, valve positions, and the like.
  • the system model of the cooling circuit 302 may be pre-programmed into controller 320 or controller 320 could develop the system model based on historical operation of cooling circuit 302 , similar to the snapshot approach discussed above. Controller 320 uses the system model to calculate the operating parameters of cooling circuit 302 and then compares these calculated operating parameters to the monitored operating parameters. Illustratively, controller 320 calculates the operating parameters on a real time basis as the monitored operating parameters are collected. It should be understood that this aspect could be used in cooling systems having a single cooling circuit as well as a plurality of cooling circuits.
  • controller 320 can use a number of different combinations of known operating parameters in the subset of operating parameters that it uses with the system model to calculate the remaining operating parameters of cooling circuit 302 . If a fault is found, one of the ways the controller could potentially determine what the fault in cooling circuit 302 is, would be to calculate operating parameters of the cooling circuit 302 using the system model and several different combinations of known operating parameters to isolate what operating parameter is causing the discrepancy between the system model operating parameters and the monitored operating parameters. For example, if the return air temperature sensor reading is faulty (bad sensor) and it's used as an input into the system model, most of the monitored operating parameters, e.g., sensor inputs and control outputs will be different from the system model operating parameters.
  • Controller 320 would then know that the return air temperature sensor is faulty.
  • FIG. 8 is a basic flow chart of a software program for controller 320 implementing the above described fault detection in which controller 320 calculates the operating parameters using a system model and compares the monitored operating parameters to the calculated operating parameters.
  • controller 320 generates system model operating parameters by using known operating parameters of each of cooling circuits 302 to calculate the remaining operating parameters of the respective cooling circuit 302 using the system model of each cooling circuit 302 .
  • the known operating parameters used in the calculation and the calculated operating parameters are collectively the system model operating parameters as discussed above.
  • controller 320 monitors the operating parameters of cooling circuits 302 .
  • controller 320 compares the current operating parameters of the applicable cooling circuit 302 to the calculated operating parameters of that cooling circuit 302 and then proceeds to 806 .
  • controller 320 determines whether a fault has occurred based on the comparison. It determines that a fault has occurred if the monitored operating parameters differ from the calculated operating parameters by an appreciable amount. Upon determining that a fault has occurred, at 808 controller 320 determines possible causes of the fault. It may do so in a similar fashion as described above with reference to FIG. 4 with the comparison being between the monitored operating parameters and system model operating parameters. It may also do so as described above using different combinations of known operating parameters as inputs to calculate operating parameters using the system model. At 810 , controller 320 outputs a response based on this determination and then returns to 800 . If at 806 controller 320 determined a fault had not occurred, controller 320 returns to 800 .
  • controller 320 may not need to calculate the operating parameters using the system model each time it executes the software routine shown in FIG. 8 . For example, if the known operating parameters that are used in the system model in the calculation of the remaining operating parameters have remained essentially the same, then controller 320 may dispense with the step of calculating the remaining operating parameters and use the most recent set of system model operating parameters.
  • controller 320 performs a particular function, it means that controller 320 is configured with appropriate software, electronic logic, or both, to perform that function. For example, if controller 320 is a programmable device, controller 320 is programmed with specific software to perform the function.
  • controller control module, control system, or the like may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); an electronic circuit; a combinational logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; a programmable logic controller, programmable control system such as a processor based control system including a computer based control system, a process controller such as a PID controller, or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality or provide the above functionality when programmed with software as described herein; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in a system-on-chip.
  • the term module may include memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor.
  • software may refer to computer programs, routines, functions, classes, and/or objects and may include firmware, and/or microcode.
  • the apparatuses and methods described herein may be implemented by software in one or more computer programs executed by one or more processors of one or more controllers.
  • the computer programs include processor-executable instructions that are stored on a non-transitory tangible computer readable medium.
  • the computer programs may also include stored data.
  • Non-limiting examples of the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium are nonvolatile memory, magnetic storage, and optical storage.

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US14/093,808 2012-12-07 2013-12-02 Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits Abandoned US20140163744A1 (en)

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US14/093,808 US20140163744A1 (en) 2012-12-07 2013-12-02 Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits
PCT/US2013/073009 WO2014089154A1 (en) 2012-12-07 2013-12-04 Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits
EP13811701.5A EP2932814A1 (en) 2012-12-07 2013-12-04 Fault detection in a cooling system with a plurality of identical cooling circuits
CN201380064127.3A CN104885585A (zh) 2012-12-07 2013-12-04 具有多个相同的冷却回路的冷却系统中的故障检测

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WO2016174734A1 (ja) * 2015-04-28 2016-11-03 三菱電機株式会社 空気調和装置監視装置および方法
US9696073B2 (en) 2014-12-16 2017-07-04 Johnson Controls Technology Company Fault detection and diagnostic system for a refrigeration circuit
CN106949581A (zh) * 2017-02-28 2017-07-14 深圳市艾特网能技术有限公司 变频空调系统及其控制方法
US10620603B2 (en) * 2014-10-09 2020-04-14 Shield Air Solutions, Inc. Method and apparatus for monitoring and troubleshooting of HVAC equipment
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US11255611B2 (en) 2016-08-02 2022-02-22 Munters Corporation Active/passive cooling system
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CN114396705A (zh) * 2021-12-20 2022-04-26 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 空调故障检测方法、装置、电子设备及介质
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US20150146367A1 (en) * 2013-11-22 2015-05-28 Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Container data center and heat dissipation system
US10620603B2 (en) * 2014-10-09 2020-04-14 Shield Air Solutions, Inc. Method and apparatus for monitoring and troubleshooting of HVAC equipment
GB2532257A (en) * 2014-11-13 2016-05-18 Frank Garson James Server cabinet coolers, server cabinets and system
GB2532257B (en) * 2014-11-13 2018-12-12 Frank Garson James Server cabinet cooler having a refrigeration circuit
US9696073B2 (en) 2014-12-16 2017-07-04 Johnson Controls Technology Company Fault detection and diagnostic system for a refrigeration circuit
WO2016174734A1 (ja) * 2015-04-28 2016-11-03 三菱電機株式会社 空気調和装置監視装置および方法
JPWO2016174734A1 (ja) * 2015-04-28 2017-11-30 三菱電機株式会社 空気調和装置監視装置および方法
US10801762B2 (en) 2016-02-18 2020-10-13 Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. Compressor floodback protection system
US11573037B2 (en) 2016-02-18 2023-02-07 Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. Compressor floodback protection system
US11255611B2 (en) 2016-08-02 2022-02-22 Munters Corporation Active/passive cooling system
US11839062B2 (en) 2016-08-02 2023-12-05 Munters Corporation Active/passive cooling system
CN106949581A (zh) * 2017-02-28 2017-07-14 深圳市艾特网能技术有限公司 变频空调系统及其控制方法
US20200355385A1 (en) * 2019-03-14 2020-11-12 Chizentek Inc. Air conditioning device
US20220055442A1 (en) * 2019-05-10 2022-02-24 Carrier Corporation Online capacity estimation of a regrigeration unit
US20210298198A1 (en) * 2020-03-19 2021-09-23 Nooter/Eriksen, Inc. System and method for data center cooling with carbon dioxide
US11800692B2 (en) * 2020-03-19 2023-10-24 Nooter/Eriksen, Inc. System and method for data center cooling with carbon dioxide
CN114396705A (zh) * 2021-12-20 2022-04-26 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 空调故障检测方法、装置、电子设备及介质

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